Join us for this online webinar exploring how Theatre of the Oppressed can help us transform ourselves, our activism and our world.
The webinar will include input from three experienced facilitators who are leading a range of 2017/18 trainings at the Ulex Project and will introduce key elements of Theatre of the Oppressed. It will explore how it can be used to shape change across a range of social settings in the world today, and include an online interactive discussion and Q&A session. We invite you to shape the content of the presentation and discussion by sending us your questions beforehand. To do this register below.
Dates, times, how to register:
Date: Thursday 27 April
Time: 7-8pm GMT/ 8-9pm CET
Registration: Please register here
Topic: ‘How to challenge oppression and build community and individual resilience with Theatre of the Oppressed?’
You also can get in touch with us over e-mail : info@ulexproject.org
Learn more about upcoming Theatre of the Oppressed trainings: Ulex Project courses and trainings
This webinar, organized by the Ulex Project will enable participants to:
– Gain an introduction to some of the principles and values that underpin the work
– Understand how a range of key Theatre of the Oppressed tools can be used in a variety of situations (e.g. community empowerment, campaign development, group work facilitation, conflict transformation)
– Learn about projects across the world using Theatre of the Oppressed
– Learn more about how upcoming Ulex Project courses incorporate aspects of Theatre of the Oppressed.
Background
“Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.” – Augusto Boal, Games For Actors & Non-Actors
Developed in the 1970s by Brazillian director and community organiser Augustos Boal, TOTO was a radical form of theatre used to directly challenge tyrannical systems, military dictatorships, landlords who monopolized huge tracts of land and authoritarian workplaces. A key aim was to turn spectators (or passive oppressed people) into actors (or fighters against oppression). It explores how oppressions can be revealed to be general or universal, and how personal issues and struggles interface with the wider social, economic and political reality.
With multiple deepening global crises at play, including the increase in right wing extremism and the consolidation of power by the political and corporate elite, this Ulex Project webinar will explore how Theatre of the Oppressed can provide an arsenal of techniques which challenge oppression, and build community and individual resilience.
Here’s what you can expect from inspiring speakers:
Ruth Cross is co-founder of Eroles Project, who run international residencies for a growing community of changemakers. As a facilitator, participatory artist, teacher, theatre maker, producer and activist, Ruth’s passion lies in co-creating spaces for transformation. Her practice has developed from immersive performance into coordinating complexity-responsive projects which bring communities together to dialogue, play and collaborate. She is trained in Social Presencing Theatre, Theatre of the Oppressed and Dragon Dreaming and is an associate artist with Encounters Arts and Battersea Arts Centre. Ruth founded Cross Collaborations in 2009, a collective of makers dedicated to social and ecological activism. Ruth will be facilitating on Creative Tools for Social Change at Ulex in 2017.
George Wielgus is a practitioner of the Theatre of the Oppressed, writer, performance poet and natural farmer who has travelled extensively across Europe and Asia working with groups ranging from the homeless in London, subsistence farmers in India, victims of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, to recovering heroin addicts and street kids in Kuala Lumpur. As founder of the training collective Reboot The Roots he has a decade of experience as a facilitator and educator in fields ranging from TESOL and drama therapy to drug rehabilitation and conflict resolution. He qualified in his Certificate in Joker Training and Certificate in Rainbow of Desire whilst working with Cardboard Citizens in 2010. George will be facilitating on Creative Tools for Social Change at Ulex in 2017, and Theatre of the Oppressed in 2018.
Jeroen Robbe has been involved as an activist in grassroots social movements for the past fifteen years, mainly focusing on the issues climate justice and no borders/migration rights. Jeroen is a founding member of LABOvzw, a movement for critical citizenship in Belgium. LABOvzw combines popular education, organizing and social action to foster an intersectional movement capable of building people power to change the system. As a Theatre of the Oppressed joker and popular educator for over five years, Jeroen has worked with diverse communities including people living in poverty, refugees, prisoners, labor unions, vulnerable youth and many groups of grassroots activists. Jeroen will be facilitating on Catalysing Active Citizenship: Tools for Organisers & Activists at Ulex in 2017.
For more information contact: info@ulexproject.org